"There's rhyme, reason and purpose to everything. Pay attention!"

Gigi Chronicles

A third part of my blog is the stories of being a grandmother who watches after her little ‘nuggets’ while their parents are at work. I had the good fortune for my grandmother to keep me while my mother and father worked and now I have the blessing to be in a position emotionally, physically and financially to be of the same support to my oldest son and my daughter-in-law. Oh wow – it’s so true – grandchildren are the reward for not ‘eating your young’.

I have been fortunate to be the mother of two sons who have grown to be handsome, healthy and productive young men. Yes, we’ve had our challenges as they were growing up; I wouldn’t be honest if I denied that. But they’ve grown up to be great guys. So my husband and I are fortunate.

Now I get little girls! And oh how different they are. Our oldest will be starting kindergarten this fall and the youngest will soon be three years old. Like all children, they are unique individuals. We have friends who adopted three children many years ago -at three different times – all as babies. Their operating philosophy at the time was nurture vs nature. They felt the nurture part was most important. As their children grew to be adults they found nature played a huge role. One cannot deny their DNA! Yes, nurture and opportunities to thrive are critical, but deep in our core, our ancestors are defining who we are.

Here’s a typical conversation between my two little ladies while looking at the construction of a new playground:

older while looking at large red structure: “That’s going to be hard for little sister to climb on, and for me too.”

younger while looking at the whole playground: “When’s it going to be finished”?

Translation: older is concerned for safety, younger can’t wait to get on all of it!